Collapsible B
by CorinthianScore
Summary: A look into the last moment's of Titanic's life through the eyes of Harold Bride.


**A/N: So, I just watched this show recently and I kind of got the feeling that a lot of the characters went out without much pomp and circumstance. I also thought it was kind of bizarre that Bride shows up alive at the end of the show even though it never even shows him leaving the wireless operating room. So I wrote a thing. I don't taught myself as a great writer or a Titanic expert. I just decided to do this for fun. Let me know what you think in a comment, maybe?**

"Mr. Bride..."

"Can't you see I'm _busy?_ " he snapped, clinging to his desk as the room continued on its upward slant, "Go bother the captain."

" _Mr. Bride._ " the ever-familiar and booming voice commanded then, causing the wireless operator to shoot straight up from his chair, nearly toppling as he lost his balance.

"My apologies, Captain." he said, eyes wide, "Once again, Carpathia is well on her way, but I'm afraid..."

"I know, Mr. Bride." the captain nodded dejectedly, handing the young man a lifebelt, "You're relieved."

Bride shook his head feverishly, sitting back down in front of his instruments, "No." he said. His heart was about to beat clear out of his chest, but not for fear of his life. He knew that was as good as gone. This was, however, the first time in his life he'd dared to defy orders of his captain, "I can get the Californian."

"No, Mr. Bride. You can't." the captain sighed, letting his clenched fists rest on the tabletop before him, "We are going to lose power any moment, Mr. Bride. Save yourself. You've done your duty."

"Is...is that an order, Sir?" Bride questioned, looking up to the captain weakly.

"Yes, Mr. Bride. That's an order." he stated once again, "There are still lifeboats being launched. If you're quick you may be able to reach one." he said, handing the lifebelt to the younger man once again, "Good luck to you, Mr. Bride. And thank you for your service to White Star.."

"Yes, Sir." he said softly, pushing himself up slowly, trying to maintain his balance as he made his way out of the room. The last sight he caught was that of the captain, fists still clenched, glaring down at the desk before him. After the door shut behind him, Bride made his way down to the boat deck, where one lifeboat after the other was being launched into the freezing water, "Fleet!" he called out for the first familiar face he saw. The older gentlemen was busy loading frantic men and women into the final lifeboats to leave.

"Women and children, Mr. Bride." he called back loudly, over the roar of the crowd.

"Let me help." he insisted, "Tell me what to do."

" _Load the women and children._ " the man repeated in his fury.

Bride was snapped into reality then, into awareness of how truly severe the situation was. Men clamored for places in lifeboats, even as Fleet and others insisted upon only women and children. He became painfully aware of the fact that not only were women and children were not being boarded...they were being pushed further and further away as the more able-bodied clamored and jockeyed for position.

"Come here." Bride insisted, pushing his way back to the women who were being shoved against the windows of the first class dining saloon, "Hold on to me." he called to the nearest few. Three young girls grabbed hold of him, then, allowing him to pull them through he crowd in a baught of strength which he had not before realized he was capable of.

"Thank you." one of the girls shouted, turning to him in complete disbelief. The Irish lilt in her voice brought him comfort for a reason he couldn't quite explain, "Tell me your name." she commanded.

"Harold...Bride." he made out as he helped her into the lifeboat.

"Thank you, Mr. Bride."

Turning his attention away from those he'd just placed aboard, he zoned in on the sound of a baby crying and the first-class man and woman who stood cradling said child, "Mum," he called, making his way through the crowd to her. She'd been saying a tearful goodbye to her husband who was simultaneously wishing them well and handing his wife any effects he could - his gold pocket watch and whatever money he'd carried in his pockets, "you've got to get on the lifeboat now, Mum."

"John..." she murmured, reaching for her husband one final time.

"Don't. I'll be fine." he promised her, "Go. Get in the lifeboat. Before it's full."

Bride then led her through the crowd once again the side of the ship where the lifeboat was about to be lowered, "We can't lower it yet. It's not full. There are still women aboard." he shouted to Fleet who was helping to lower the boat into the water.

"Ship's going down fast, Mr. Bride. We're running out of time."

"All the more reason to fill the boats, isn't it?" he shouted, "Is that the last to leave?"

"There are still four collapsible boats. We'll have to climb."

Murdoch called out as he continued to command the lowering of the lifeboat, "This boat needs two men at the oars. Fleet!"

Fleet's head snapped to attention then, relief washing over his face, "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." he called, throwing a momentarily concerned look at Bride, "You don't know how to row, do you?"

"No, I don't." he admitted, "Don't worry about me. Go get on the lifeboat. You've got your spot. Go home to your wife."

"Take care, then, Mr. Bride."

"That I will, Sir." he said with a slight nod.

With renewed vigor, Bride found himself climbing, using open port windows as footholds, until he reached the collapsible boats. What stood before him he never would have imagined. There stood Andrews, frantically throwing deck chairs overboard at breakneck speeds as the ship tilted ever nearer to the sky, giving the people who had already toppled into the water something to cling to, "Sir?" he questioned, pulling out one of the collapsibles and forcing it into its readied position.

"Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Bride." Andrews chuckled, clearly unnerved, "Was that the last of the boats, then?"

"It was." he confirmed, "There are still women and children down below, Sir."

"Of course there are, Bride. There aren't enough boats on this ship to save even a third of the souls aboard. In half an hour we'll all be at the bottom of the ocean." he scowled, continuing his work, "I don't suppose you were able to contact the Californian."

"'Fraid not, Sir." he responded meekly, "Carpathian is coming as fast as she can."

"Not fast enough for you or me, I'm afraid." Andrews sighed, "She won't be here for another three hours yet."

"There are still boats that need to be loaded, Mr. Andrews." Bride said, "Help me." he instructed, causing his elder to be pulled out of the frenzied daze he'd found himself in, "I've found that sometimes...doing something with your hands is helpful in calming one down." Bride murmured as the two worked diligently on the collapsibles. They idly chattered - anything to keep their minds off the water which lapped ever-closer - until all of the remaining collapsibles were prepared for boarding.

Once all of the remaining boats were assembled, Andrews took a deep breath, "I'd say you have it from here. If you'll excuse me...good luck to you, Mr. Bride."

"Of course, Sir." he said, watching as Andrews disappeared through the door to the first-class smoke room, the door closing definitively behind him.

Bride peered over the side from where he stood. He knelt down to his knees, letting down his arms, "Women and children up here, please!" he called, stretching a hand out for a woman who was not being afforded any help by any of the men below, "Take my hand!" he called.

" _Look out -_ "

The burning cold of the ocean brought Mr. Bride back to consciousness. The last he'd remembered, he'd been loading a collapsible...how did he end up being pushed outward to sea? He'd been unconscious for longer than he'd realized. He was in complete dark, not a soul or a ship in sight. _You're underneath the collapsible._ he told himself, ducking under to relieve himself of the utter darkness. By the time he was able to get a view of the ship, it was completely upright, preparing to make its final descent, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." he murmured under his breath. He watched, horrified, as the _Titanic_ sank below the waterline, terrified wails of those still on board piercing his ears. Knowing there was nothing left he could do to save those aboard, he went on to devise a plan to save himself. He knew if he stayed in the water he was sure to die. The piercing pain in his leg told him that he needed to get aboard a lifeboat so that he could evaluate his injury.

Bride scrambled aboard the collapsible that he had been trapped under only moments before, helping up those around him as he did. They paddled feverishly away from the wreckage, batting away those who attempted to climb aboard. It was every man for himself up to that point and those aboard the overturned collapsible knew that if they didn't get away soon, they were sure to be swamped by those who'd hoped for a small chance at survival. Once they had paddled out of eyeshot of those floundering in the water the men finally stopped paddling, stopped to take the first rest most of them had seen since the news of the _Titanic's_ imminent demise nearly three hours previously.

"Charles Lightoller." the man across from him murmured, extending a hand in his direction.

"Excuse me?" Bride questioned. Surely this man wasn't trying to introduce himself at a time like this.

"I figure if we might be dying together...we may as well know each other, eh? Charles Lightoller." he said, extending his hand out once again for the younger man to take.

Realizing that this man was right, that they may be the last person either one would see before death, he took Lightoller's hand reluctantly, "Harold Bride, wireless operator with the Marconi Marine Signal Communications Company...Limited."


End file.
